China firmly opposes U.S. tariff proposals, counter measures underway

China strongly condemns and firmly opposes the U.S. tariff proposals and is ready to take counter measures on U.S. products, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Wednesday.

A MOC spokesperson made the statement after the U.S. government announced the proposed list of products subject to additional tariffs, which covers Chinese exports worth 50 billion U.S. dollars with a suggested tariff rate of 25 percent.

"Disregarding strong representations by China, the United States announced the tariff proposals that are completely unfounded, a typical unilateralist and protectionist practice that China strongly condemns and firmly opposes," according to the statement.

The U.S. side published the list in disregard of the mutually-beneficial and win-win nature of the China-U.S. trade and economic cooperation in the past 40 years, the appeal of the Chinese and American business communities and the interests of consumers, it said.

The move went against the interests of China, the United States and the world at large, seriously violating the basic principles and spirit of the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to the spokesperson.

China plans to immediately bring relevant U.S. practice to the dispute settlement body of the WTO, and is ready to take counter measures on U.S. products with equal force and scale that will be published in the coming days.

"We have the confidence and ability to respond to any U.S. trade protectionist measures," the spokesperson said.